Tyranny of Steel

Having finished their afternoon tea, Dharya and Priya met up with their guide, which was the Princess Henrietta. If there was one thing Dharya had noticed since he first visited the palace, it was the fact that the Kaiser had a lot of beautiful young women by his side.  The young woman was quick to greet her brother's guests with a wide smile on her face. She had met them at the dinner table the day they arrived, but had seldom interacted with them since. 

"Dharya, Priya. It is a pleasure to be your guide on the tour of my brother's city."

When Dharya heard she was the Kaiser's sister, he felt a bit relieved. It would simply be an injustice for one man to hoard six peerless beauties for himself. However, he did not know that Henrietta was her brother's mistress. Because of this, he wore a happy smile as he greeted the woman.

"Thank you Henrietta. It means a lot to me that you would take time out of your day to escort us."

Henrietta brushed off the notion while maintaining a proper sense of humility.

"It is not that big of a deal. These days my brother has me looking after some minor financial matters. Apparently, I have a talent for such things. Truthfully, my workload is not nearly as much as big brother's. Now, are the two of you ready to head out?"

The two children eagerly nodded their heads, causing Henrietta to smile as she petted their heads. 

"Very well, then. Let's get started!"

After saying this Henrietta, led the two kids by the hands while being flanked by an armed escort. The two of them left the palace grounds and entered a carriage as they descended into the city. The kids had wide eyes as they looked out at the hustle and bustle of the capital of Germany. Dharya was curious about its history and quickly inquired about the subject.

"How long has the city of Kufstein been around for? Your ancestors must have worked hard to make such a magnificent metropolis!"

Henrietta giggled as she heard this, causing a look of confusion to appear on the boy's face. She quickly explained the origins of the city of Kufstein.

"Until about eight years ago, Kufstein was nothing more than a small agricultural town. My family were minor noblemen, who relied on the feudal system to pay taxes to our overlords."

Dharya was astonished to hear this. It did not take him long to ask the woman another question.

"What happened? How does a small agricultural town turn into this in eight years?"

Henrietta wore a proud smile on her face as she talked about Berengar's accomplishments.

"Big brother happened. I was only a young girl at the time, but under his leadership, Kufstein transformed from just a small farming village into what you see today. Kufstein is the center of Austria's power and wealth, which has spread to the rest of the Kingdom. It has been less than two years since the German Empire unified, and because of this, the other states are lagging behind. 

However, under Berengar's influence, Austria has become the center of the Empire. All of its wonder is being rapidly implemented across the rest of the Reich. I can only imagine what Kufstein will be like in another five years..."

Dharya and Priya reflected upon this as their carriage stopped in front of a large, domed building. Henrietta quickly introduced what this building was and the significance it had for the Reich.

"This is the Reichstag, the House of Commons meets up here, and creates bills. Once these bills are voted upon, they are sent to the House of Lords to review. After the House of Lords has approved the bill, it is sent to the Kaiser to sign into law. The Kaiser reserves the right to veto any bill that comes across his desk. 

In the Empire, all law-abiding and educated males can vote in members of parliament who represent their interests. In the House of Commons there are several parties, but the largest of them gets roughly 72% of the vote, and they simply refer to themselves as the Loyalists.

The Loyalists are a political party that believes the Kaiser has the best interest of the people in heart. They are the backbone of the von Kufstein Dynasty's power in the House of Commons, and support the Kaiser's vision for the future. 

Aside from the loyalists, there are other parties that represent different interests, but they split a tiny minority of the vote. Naturally, this could change in the future if, for whatever reason, the Reich is cursed with an incompetent Kaiser. However, such a thing is unlikely due to the succession laws in place." 

The idea of people voting representatives into office was alien to Dharya. He never would have conceived of such an idea on his own. Priya, on the other hand, was just enjoying the magnificent architecture of the Reichstag and quickly asked the question on her mind.

"Can we go inside?"

Henrietta smiled before shaking her head, explaining the current situation to the two of them.

"The Reichstag is off limits to the public. Unfortunately, I can not get you two inside. However, there are plenty of other places to visit in the Capital."

After saying this, the driver of the carriage snapped the reins, where the horses led the party towards the heart of the city. As they were heading out of the Palace district, the kids spotted a large bronze statue of Berengar in the center of the Palace district. It was not quite the colossus that watched over the city from the hills above, but it was still significant. 

The statue depicted Berengar in his Imperial Regalia, and was commissioned in honor of the unification of the Empire. It was very different from the statue that resided outside the city, which showed the man in full armor, pointing his sword towards Rome. 

The statue was embedded in the center of a small pond, which was the habitat of several beautiful fish. There was a merchant selling flowers that people could buy and leave by the side of the statue to honor the Kaiser. It surprised Dharya to see how many people paid tribute to the statue in this method. 

From Dharya's perspective, the people of Kufstein genuinely revered their leader. He himself was an emperor as well, but the revere and worship that his servants gave him was out of subservience, not genuine respect. He could not fathom these people voluntarily spending their hard earned coin on a flower, just to place it by the side of a statue as a way of honoring their nation's leader. 

After passing by the Statue, the party crossed over a bridge, leaving the Palace district behind, and entering the heart of the city. What surprised Dharya the most was despite entering a more common area of the city, the people who walked by on the streets appeared to be equally well fed as those walking in the palace district. Every person on the street was in remarkable shape, especially the youth. 

Not only were the people well fed, but they were well dressed too, with men wearing clean suits, and women wearing dresses and skirts that were tidy and aesthetically pleasing. War heroes commonly wore their medals on their suit jackets as a symbol of their accomplishments. In a martial society like Austria, the people praised veterans and looked at them as ideal members of society. 

While gazing upon the German people, Dharya noticed something interesting. There were two distinctive groups of German youth who walked on the streets. Among them were boys who were dressed in black military tunics with matching shorts. They also wore black leather ankle boots, with matching long socks.

Over their necks the boys wore a black tie, while they also adorned a black leather Sam Browne style belt over their tunic. Atop their heads was a m43 pattern Field cap, and on their right arm they wore a black, white, and gold armband with the reichsadler embedded in its center. 

Meanwhile, there was a group of girls who were dressed in a uniform of their own. This uniform consisted of a white short sleeve blouse with a black tie. They wore black pleated skirts and matching shoes with knee high black socks. On the girl's right sleeve was an embroidered reichsadler. 

These two groups of German youth were engaged in different acts of community service, with the boys pulling weeds, cleaning sidewalks, assisting the elderly, and engaging in basic maintenance. While the girls were providing soup to the German public free of charge. The sight of this baffled Dharya, and he was quick to ask his guide about what was happening around him.

"Princess Henrietta, why are those children all dressed like that, and what are they doing?"

Henrietta glanced over to where the boy was pointing and quickly smiled before educating him on the German Youth Corps.

"Those boys and girls belong to the German Youth Corps. The German Youth Corps is a government funded organization that assists the community and teaches boys and girls the skills they need to be productive members of society. As you can see, it is split into two different groups based on sex.

Boys between the ages of seven and eighteen can join the German Cadet Corps, which teaches German boys the skills required to be successful soldiers and productive citizens. Whereas girls of the same age can join the League of German Maidens, where they are taught the necessary skills to become good wives and mothers.  Membership is entirely voluntary, but it is heavily encouraged." 

Dharya and Priya gazed in awe at the German youth as they assisted their community in different ways. It became clear that the tasks given to the two groups differed greatly. The tour of the Capital had only just begun, and they had witnessed so many strange things. The two kids could hardly wait for the rest of it.